My near future project is going to make lots of people mad but here is what I'm planning. I had a 1982 f150 with a blown 300 6 cylinder, a 4 speed 4x4 given to me. My plan is installing a chevy 350 out of a 1992 chevy full size van that I bought for scrap but only has about 100,000 miles on it. I have found a way to bolt the Ford 4 speed to the motor so I'm hoping I won't have to modify the truck to much incase I go back to a ford power plant in the future. My question is If I should modify the truck to take the tbi, or modify the motor to take a carburetor? What is the benefits of each? What would be needed for both?

Edited by Cmfe90 on 02-10-18 10:36 AM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

This is a no-brainer for me, because I swapped a TBI Chevy engine into a carbed Chevy truck. I put a carb and manifold on the engine and never looked back. This was about 16 years ago and I am still driving that truck with the same engine and carb.

Benefits of doing it that way: A lot less work and I didn't need to learn anything about computer engine management.

Downside of doing it that way: possibly poorer fuel mileage, but that is theoretical in my case because I never had the opportunity to make a direct comparison. Also, possibly poorer emissions, but my truck is old enough that I don't have to pass any smog tests.

IMO, if you go with TBI your job will be somewhat more difficult than mine would have been if I had kept the TBI. This is because you will need to deal with whatever Chevy/Ford incompatibility issues arise as a result of the swap. I am thinking about computer wiring here, but there might also be others, like throttle linkage and fuel plumbing

As for making lots of people mad, I don't see that happening here, but it might be a whole different story if you posted the same question on a Ford forum.

Now I have a question for you: How did you adapt your Chevy engine to the Ford transmission? Please give details about specific parts you used and also about any mods you may have had to make on any of the parts. I have a personal interest in this area of your swap because I have a Ford manual trans I want to run behind a Chevy engine. Thank you.

Ray

Those who choose an automatic transmission want transportation. Those who choose a manual transmission want to drive.

Stick with the TBI. There are 2 parts you need to figure out, the fuel supply and the speed sensor. If you'd like to talk specific ideas for either I can try to help. There are ways to do the fuel system pretty cheaply. The speed sensor is a little more difficult.

I'd recommend you go over to gearheadefi forum and talk to Dave W. for swap advice or possibly a harness.

I didn't know there was a standalone ECM available either. That might make the job easier than trying to re-use the stock one.

Thank you for the Novak info. Unfortunately, my trans came out of a passenger car (it's the OD version of the 4 speed toploader) and the bolt pattern looks different from the one shown in the article. I will still ask Novak about this, just in case I am wrong about the bolt pattern.

Ray

Those who choose an automatic transmission want transportation. Those who choose a manual transmission want to drive.

Iv been doing a bunch of research, I also found adapter bell housings but they were about $500 and up. I googled 350 chevy to ford four speed transmission. I Google chevy 350 tbi ecm and found the stand alone setup. I started to pull the motor out of the van under a shade tree last fall, I was planning on using it on a different project but it fell through. It's a pain in the behind trying to get that motor out. I had to get creative with the cutting torch but I think it's ready to liftt the van off of it.

My near future project is going to make lots of people mad but here is what I'm planning. I had a 1982 f150 with a blown 300 6 cylinder, a 4 speed 4x4 given to me.

How did that happen? The 300 is nearly indestructible from what I've always heard. Any reason why you can't rebuild it, or find another one? It would be a lot easier than swapping to a Chevy engine.... although you might get better mileage if the gearing isn't too low, with the Chevy.

It sat for about 15 years before I got ahold of it. It had originally had a small wiring fire. I fixed the wiring and got it to start and run, I'd changed the oil before I started it. I drove it for about a mile to my house, during the drive it started knocking. I got it home and the oil was full of water. I have pulled the head and had it looked at. The gasket looked good too. Rebuilding it or replacing it is still an option as far as I'm concerned, it's why I don't want to do any major modifications to the truck. The 350 is mostly out of convenience. I can do most of the swap before really having to put any money into it. The side of that coin is how many f150's do you see running a 350 chevy? If I go to rebuild a ford motor for it, it will probably be a 460. I know where there's a high milage truck I can do a swap with but the body is worse for wear.

WITH A STOCK 5.0 INJ & AUTOMATIC/W OD RUNNING 32 ALL TERRAINS IM GETTING ABOUT 10/11 ON A GOOD DAY.4GET 4X4 MILEAGE EVEN IN HIGH.WITH THE SB CHEVY I WOULD GUESSTIMATE ABOUT THE SAME.YA MIGHT DO BETTER WITH THE STICK VS THE AUTOMATIC IF YA KEEP YOUR FOOT OUT OF IT.

You don't need a special stand-alone ECM. The one in the parts truck will run the stock TBI engine just fine. Worst case you need to find a manual transmission calibration to use in it or get a chip programmed so you don't get a check engine light for parts missing. The Ebay link you posted was just a GM ECM that was re-programmed.

If you're willing to unwrap the stock parts truck harness and take your time working through it, it's really not that hard to make a swap EFI harness out of it. There is a harness from the ECM to the engine that is mostly dedicated to the EFI. From what I recall, there are just a few wires for gauges and such you just pull out of it before you re-wrap it. You also have to sort out the power and a few other connections like CEL and speed sensor. There are wiring diagrams for all the pre-OBDII trucks online so you can follow them through to figure out what wires are needed or not.

if you want to keep the tbi, adapt the f--d wiring harness to run the gm tbi and use all f--d sensors. but,it would bd easier, cheaper (probably) just to install a carb and keep the f--d wiring intact if you ever want to change back. but-why would you?
only f--d i ever liked was an early van with a 454.
of course that is with the exception of a 63 galaxie,427 4 speed